First egg!

I remember coming across the first egg back in January with absolute delight. I saw this little, perfectly formed ovoid shape and assumed that a) hubby was playing a trick on me, or b) the kids were playing a trick on me. But no! Delilah had laid her/our very first egg! It was a ridiculously joyous occassion, and I really hope that none of the neighbours are in possession of a video of me literally dancing around the garden with glee.

The egg was boiled, photo's were taken (I kid you not) and the the other members of my family had a spoonful each. They proclaimed it the best egg ever, and I gave Delilah an extra raisin for being such a clever girl. After that, there was no stopping her, and she now regularly gives us 5/6 eggs a week.

Maude was the next to start laying, just a fortnight after Delilah's debut. Her eggs are almost white, and bigger than D's mini eggs. Two weeks later, and Mabel joined the layers club. With three hens laying, I was getting around 14 eggs a week, far more than we'd eat, so I gave a few boxes to the neighbours.

Just this week, Doris and Belinda have started laying. They seem a little intimidated by the bigger girls though, and have taken to laying eggs in unusual places rather than use the nest boxes. I'm not quite sure what to do about that at the moment.

So now I only have little Mini not contributing to the food chain. I don't expect her to start laying for a couple of months yet, as her head gear hasn't reddened up nor does she crouch. By the end of May, though, I expect to have six hens a laying!